Water seeks its own level and rats end up in the sewer. Politics and reality TV have become as one and so Matt Gaetz, after an ignominious career in state politics and the House of Representatives and a brief failed attempt to become Attorney General, has become a talk show host on OAN. Are they still in business you ask? In a matter of speaking. They don’t have the same cable access as Fox News. I don’t buy a cable package for that very reason, because I will not subsidize Fox News or any right-wing outlet. I can stream cable news online and that’s good enough for me. Rolling Stone:
Shout-out videos on Cameo apparently weren’t cutting it for the MAGA loyalist, who has now taken up a job as a host for the pro-Trump network One America News (OAN.) In a statement released Tuesday, One America News announced that “powerhouse Matt Gaetz will be joining OAN’s prime-time lineup in January.” […]
But a gig at a lower-tier right-wing television network won’t wash away the circumstances of Gaetz’s exit from Congress and decision to bow out of his bid to lead the Justice Department. His resignation came days before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to release a report detailing the findings of an investigation into allegations that he had a sexual relationship with an underage girl, and was involved in a salacious ring of “sex parties” involving prominent Florida politicians. The allegations doomed his confirmation prospects, and Republicans and Democrats are still battling over whether to make the report on them public.
In the world of right-wing news, OAN has emerged as a Fox News alternative that leans even harder into Trump sycophancy and propaganda than the conservative news giant. OAN was instrumental in spreading voter-fraud conspiracy theories in the aftermath of the 2020 election and saw a spike in viewership after Trump and his supporters grew outraged when Fox became the first major network to, correctly, call Arizona for President Joe Biden. […]
The network was dropped from DirectTV’s channel lineup in 2022. OAN attempted to sue the satellite TV provider, alleging that the company’s decision was “part and parcel of a larger, coordinated, extremely well-financed political scheme to take down [OAN CEO Robert] Herring and unlawfully destroy its ability to operate in the media business.” The lawsuit’s central claims were dismissed in June 2023.
Now here’s what’s interesting, in a perverse way. Gaetz has been said to plan to run for Governor of Florida in two years when Ron DeSantis is finished. Would Gaetz remain a TV *star* while running Florida, granting that he could get elected? Who knows? And I don’t know if Gaetz could win a statewide race. He’s survived as long as he has because he’s in an extremely red district where anything goes. He might find out that he’s not that popular outside the district.
Or, his new found *fame* as a talking head on right-wing media may give him the exposure he needs. Again, your guess is as good as mine. Television rules politics these days. That’s the only truism of which you may be sure.
One
America
News
Incredible
Star
Talent
An oanist, sounds like the perfect description.
What is an “oanist?” I believe you mean “onanist,” an old-fashioned (and, based on its source, technically incorrect) term for “masturbator.” (Of course, the British term for “masturbator” is a much better term to use for “onanist”–“wanker.” It just sounds both classier and dirtier at the same time.)